[Removed user]

24 November 2017 at 0:00:38 #813722

We are traveling from Zurich airport to Saint Moritz on 18th Feb. From Saint Moritz we are planning to travel to Zermatt on 25th February on the Glacier Express. Then on the 4th of March we will return to Zurich airport. At this stage we have a transfer from Zurich to Saint Moritz booked but we can cancel that and use the train instead. I have some questions about what the best value train tickets will be:

1)Flex travel pass (3 non consecutive days)

a.Does this pass include Glacier Express?

b.Do we need to book to and from the airport in advance or do we just get on any train on the day?

2)Swiss Half price ticket

a.Does this include Glacier Express?

b.Will we need to use trains in Zermatt that are not included in our ski pass? If so this may be more worthwhile?

3)Swiss Transfer ticket

a.We are flying in and out of Zurich, can we use the 1st leg to get to Saint Moritz and the second leg to go from Zermatt to Zurich airport?

b.Do you need to purchase a different ticket not included in the transfer ticket to get from Visp to Zermatt?

Any suggestions very welcome!

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[rockoyster]

24 November 2017 at 2:59:40 #872292

Hello Milly and Welcome to MySwissAlps,

I’m guessing a bit of a skiing holiday. To answer your questions briefly.

1)Flex travel pass (3 non consecutive days)

a.Does this pass include Glacier Express? YES. You will need to also pay for mandatory seat reservation though.

b.Do we need to book to and from the airport in advance or do we just get on any train on the day? No need to book. Take any train which suits.

2)Swiss Half price ticket

a.Does this include Glacier Express? YES. 50% discount off regular fare plus you also pay for mandatory seat reservation.

b.Will we need to use trains in Zermatt that are not included in our ski pass? If so this may be more worthwhile? Gornergrat (http://www.myswissalps.com/go rnergrat) and Cable Car to Klien Mattherhorn (http://www.myswissalps.com/kl einmatterhorn) are both 50% off using Swiss Travel Pass or Half Fare Card.

3)Swiss Transfer ticket

a.We are flying in and out of Zurich, can we use the 1st leg to get to Saint Moritz and the second leg to go from Zermatt to Zurich airport? YES but you need to compare regular fares (http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable) with Swiss Transfer Ticket cost to see if you are saving anything. You also have to travel via the most direct routes offered when searching the timetable.

b.Do you need to purchase a different ticket not included in the transfer ticket to get from Visp to Zermatt? Do you mean Zermatt to Visp? Then NO.

Deciding which pass is most economical can only be done accurately if you add up the fares for all the trips you plan and then see how much they would cost using one or other pass. You will find the map showing where the Swiss Travel Pass is valid in 2018 here http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity Pass prices for 2018 are here http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/swiss-travel-system-changes-in-2018

[cam223]

4 December 2017 at 18:29:19 #872293

Just got back from Switzerland. We had a flex pass that worked well.

Since we were coming from Paris and had lots of ski boards, etc. as well as dress clothes we purchased first class passes. We had reservations from Basel to Visp and then from Visp to Zurich. Most people don’t reserve seats but we did. The trains from Visp to Zermatt are frequent. We received a 50% discount on the Gornergrat train and on the “bubble” going up to the top of the Klein Matterhorn and Sunnega.

We enjoyed our train rides a lot. Just remember that number of the train will not appear anywhere on the arrival and departure board, you need to know the end city and the time. Also there are small cards above reserved seats. The three days that we took train and or gondola rides up the mountains did not count, we could have ordered passes for fewer days.

Have fun! We love to travel by train and wish we could do so here in the US where train travel is relatively rare for those of us who live in the Midwest.